#am I rewatching s1 and s2 of strangers things

[chirpsythismorning]

The way fans on the st sub are almost all in agreement Nancy ending up with neither Jon nor Steve wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, and how they can even come up with a sleuth of reasons as to why, honestly pretty valid and fair reasons, but then are absolutely gobsmacked when fans merely speculate something along those lines for El is, quite something.

[robinsbanduniform]

does anyone else remember the theories that el was actually sara, the drawings and similar stuffed animals + the staircase scene where hop is crying and it looks identical to the staircase we see in s2

[rogueddie]

oh my god season one steve defender, hello

am i glad to find you because i’ve ben rewatching stranger things and the fanon version of steve before the upside down seems on the harsh side now. and the way the show was comparing him to jonathan who was dealt a shitty hand in life made people a bit biased.

like, he was asshole, not refuting that! but also he was a moody teenager who didn’t know better and peer pressure is a bitch even without people making assumptions about you and your big empty house. (i think a big part of steve being so gone on nancy was because she didn’t treat him like he was an asshole. unlike others who made it seem given.)

also he tried to rectify his mistakes. didn’t try to run from that. went to jonathan to apologize, even when his face was still fucked up from the beating he got and not knowing what jonathan was doing with nancy, exactly. he trusted nancy. he was jealous and lashed out in the worst way possible but he chose to trust her—like she trusted him before he went and hurt her. didn’t want to disappoint her again.

also he made the right choice at the most important time. running back to nancy after she threatened him with a gun and a literal monster jumped out? most teenagers—hell, even adults—would not do that, not even the kind and mature ones.

he wasn’t involved with the interdimensional monster shit, unlike nancy and jonathan who each had a person they lost to it and were in deep. he chose to be involved. like. people seem to think that the upside down and its subsequent trauma was what made steve a good person. he was good to begin with, he just needed a push. the upside down didn’t happen to steve, it was the other way around. that’s a big part of why i love his character: his choice to be involved. a lot of people understate that. like.

steve isn’t connected to anyone in the party. he’s there for them all nonetheless. a rich kid just inserted himself into danger to save people, how come he catches so much heat from others?

he wasn’t bad, is what i’m getting at. he acted bad. he was innately good and just had to practice that goodness outside the influence of mouthbreathers.

Oh, people are definitely too harsh on Steve. But that's entirely the Duffers fault, I'm convinced. Most people won't have watched s1 for a while so things like Robin insisting that Steve used to be an asshole will be informing their perceptions of early Steve, or Steve telling Nancy that he really needed that knock to the head like he was the worst person before that.

He was definitely problematic, majorly so. It was his friends who were the assholes but he didn't try that hard to stop them- we see him trying to scold Tommy for going too far, but it's only after he implies that Jonathan is responsible. He initiates it too, even if his comment isn't necessarily that bad.

And trying to make up for his mistakes? That was almost immediately afterwards as well. With the implication of his father cheating, obviously he's going to be paranoid about that type of thing happening to him just like his mom. It makes sense that he'd overreact and went way too far. He was upset and a kid!

Plus, on the point of him choosing to go back- isn't he the only one who really chooses to keep getting involved in the Upside Down, even though he doesn't really have any personal stakes in it?

Like, s1 he's given an out. Nancy pointed a gun at him and Jonathan isn't exactly a friend, but he goes back anyway. And in s2, he could've told Dustin no. He didn't need to babysit or agree to help him, he had no real reason to and it's heavily implied that the two aren't close at all. Then in s3, he could've turned Dustin away too. Why would Steve want to waste time on translating Russian? He had a job! S4 is the only time he has any personal stakes bc at that point he's good friends with Dustin and it's a clearly dangerous situation.

He's always had a very clear pattern of behavior that is the same now as it was in s1. Considering he's a rich kid, it would make sense that hed get stuck in a certain crowd too and of course theyd be assholes.

[inlovewithrain]

am i the only one who mildly hates nancy wheeler?

like hear me out; i couldn't stand her in s1 and s2, because she's just so selfish, and that carries on in the other seasons.

she practically blamed steve that barb went missing

(she also failed to realize he was also affected)

she cheated on him and then told him in a life-threatening moment

she got jonathan fired and then guilt-tripped him into thinking it was his fault.

she treated barb like absolute shit

she stayed with steve because she couldn't have jonathan

(that plays out in s4 as well. a lot of people say that she didn't; it was obvious that she was jealous of robin for being close to him)

her entire story line is so annoying. i'm sorry to say this but she needs a proper coping mechanism because she's been grieving for like 3 fucking years.

every single season, it's like clockwork. nancy finds something out, she gets mad nobody's believing her, she goes and gets them into MORE trouble.

however, what annoys me the most, is that nancy never apologizes, and she almost NEVER learns from her mistakes. she basically demands respect. in fact she almost basically tells jonathan that 'yeah you're poor but i'm a woman so i have it worse'

however, this also plays into the duffers' brothers writing.

nancy is written incredibly realistically. (she does something, focuses on something, and never realizes that she hurts people along the way.)

but when you rewatch stranger things, forget the 'girl power' and 'omg she's so badass' nancy is an incredibly shitty person and deserves to be called out by it. (she's like lois lane from superman)

honest to god help me if jancy OR stancy happens in s5 i'm actually shitting on the duffer's brother's doorstep.

is it just the duffers brothers poor attempt at writing feminism?

not quite; el or max had very big plotlines, but they were no way as much as an ass as nancy.

[electricbluebutterflies]

summer frenzy accountability post

In the name of me having a lot of time on my hands for the next couple months + wanting to vary up my content here a bit... time to post the watchlist I hope to at least cull through if not actually finish all of. This is not in any kind of order and will be updated as I get through stuff, and also isn't all of my planned programming for the near future (there's also one movie I need to rewatch, a few others that will be totally new to me, and a book series I need to get through). The goal is to fall in love with things, write as much as possible, and have a good time.

Housekeeping notes: if a show name is underlined, that means I already have a ship tag for something / that's a link. If it is not, I'm still eyeing some obvious bait unless otherwise noted. I've at least kinda started watching most of these shows and in some cases the "currently on" is a guess because it's been too long for me to remember. Any commentary on why I should prioritize something on this list above the rest will be listened to but not necessarily followed. (There are several things that I dropped because the timing was wrong for me.) Again, not an exhaustive list but posting it anyways so y'all have some idea of coming attractions.

Without further adieu, the list:

Rings of Power (currently: maaaaybe 1x04?)

Wheel of Time (currently: hell if I know, I am aware WHY I quit watching previously but can't remember exactly which episode it was / I do know it was somewhere in the middle of s1)

1899 (currently: no idea)

House of the Dragon (currently: 1x02)

Stranger Things (currently: early s2?) (yes I skipped ahead and watched the Chrissy episode because of the cuteness that is Hellcheer and it somehow made total sense to me but that's not even what I was there for)

Shogun (currently: 1x03?)

The Gilded Age (currently: somewhere in the middle of s1 / I think I finished the ep before the dress that got me interested in the show but I'm not totally sure)

Silo (currently: have not started) (almost definitely not a fic show for me but creative ideas in other directions?)

Foundation (currently: have not started)

Fringe (currently: have not started / if I remember right I did get through about the first season ten years ago but it has been a moment so I'll be starting over)

Fallout (currently: 1x02)

[lesbianwithchainsaws]

haiii fun question time: what are your favorite horror tv shows? I’ve been looking to expand my horizons and start watching more scary tv series this month and i wanna know ur favs

Hi!! Okay, I'm gonna have to shamefully admit here that I am terrible with tv shows so I honestly haven't seen that many horror tv shows.

Ones I have seen and would recommend:

The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. They're both really really good and made me cry 10 thousand times. They're more character focused and imo executed really well!

If you've watched the Chucky franchise and liked it, I'd recommend the Chucky tv show too! S3 recently started. I haven't seen any episodes from s3 yet, but s1 was really good and s2 was pretty fun as well. I'd say if you don't like the weirdness and campiness of the later Chucky movies, you might not enjoy the show as much, but it is a continuation of all the movies and is really fun (and queer!)

I think the only other horror tv show I've properly watched is Ash vs Evil Dead. I enjoyed it when I watched it, but definitely need to give it a rewatch!

The other horror-esque shows I've seen are like barely horror, especially after a while. Like I've seen Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Stranger Things, but it'd be hard to call any of these horror, besides maybe a few episodes

[http-byler]

ELI!!! okay, i’m finally going to do it…… I AM FINALLY GONNA FINISH STRANGER THINGS.

i was originally just gonna pick up where i left off in s4, but then i decided no… i’m going to rewatch the entire thing c:

since last summer before i watched s4, i only rewatched s2 and then skimmed through s3 bc i remembered most of it, and i actually haven’t rewatched s1 since like….. 2017…… so i decided that im gonna rewatch the entire thing, right from the beginning!!! it’s binge time, and im so very excited :D THIS IS FOR YOU BESTIE 👊💗💗

(ps warning and apology in advance. im definitely gonna be in ur asks giving u updates as i rewatch so…. be prepared for that hehe)

SUNNY… SUNNNYYYYYYYY!!!

YOU DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUVE JUST UNLEASHED WITH THIS ASK. IM LITERALLY GONNA REWATCH IT ALL NOW IDC IDC!! I HAVENT SEEN IT IN A FEW MONTHS SO WHAT THE HELL!! REWATCHING WITH U BESTIE!!

AND DONT APOLOGIZE FOR UPDATINF ME BC IM GONNA BE ON STANDBY NOW. YOU HAVE NO IDEA!! AHHHHHH!!! YAYAYAY!! <33 🫀🫂🫶💥

[svenni-le]

Rant or Character/Relationship Analysis (?)

Since I saw a lot of people angry about the way Tatum got written out and the way Leighton broke up with her, I decided to go back and rewatch all of Tatum's scenes and boy did I notice some stuff (and yes I have quotes and stuff):

1. For context: I started watching TSLOCG because I saw story videos for Alicia & Leighton on Youtube. I really liked Alicia in S1 and I understood her decision to break up with Leighton. I'm not gonna talk about the discussion of "Alicia forced Leighton to come out", cause that's not the purpose of this post. Then S2 came out and I liked Leighton deciding to have some fun and be in her "hoe era". Tatum was introduced and I was really excited cause I really like Gracie (from Chasing Life, if anyone remembers that). I wasn't really sure about Tatum at first, but she won me over in 2x08.

2. I'm not trying to convince anyone to like Alicia nor am I trying to compare Alicia and Tatum or their relationships with Leighton. I'm just trying to show that Tatum wasn't the nice person some are making her out to be (if that makes sense).

3. Let's get into FACTS/QUOTES/REASONS:

- when Leighton was asked what her type is, she only described how her perfect woman would look like, not how their personality would be -> Tatum might be the perfect woman for Leighton, but only on a very superficial level

- Tatum might be understanding when it came to Leighton not being out to her dad, even Leighton had very nice and understanding moments but most times she was still being a bitch

- she almost ran over Leighton in 2x05, at this point Leighton was still a stranger to her so yeah...

- Leighton about Tatum: "She's so indifferent." (2x06)

- "But that should be fun for like Gen Pop." (2x06)

- Tatum's annoyed look at Leighton at the party in 2x06, when Leighton has done nothing wrong

- "I've never been Prada-shamed before." (2x06) -> explains itself

- "Just to be clear I'm not a Dining Hall person." (2x07)

- "Yikes, I'm sorry. [...] It all feels a little basic and fake." (2x07) -> technically not wrong, but after Leighton told her she got into Kappa; they were still getting to know each other

- "Her personality was as ugly as her name." (2x08)

- Tatum talks bady about her sex life with her ex, while her ex is present (2x09) -> you just shouldn't do that

- "The only time I consider dressing on theme is for the Met gala." (2x09) -> when she's invited to a costume party

- Tatum's judging looks at the Women's Center (-2x09)

- "I love all the Rainbows. So on the nose." (2x09) -> that's sth that S1 Leighton would have said

- "It's kinda cute they thought they could raise money by auctioning off things that are arguably garbage. I mean what is this other than being fucking ugly?" (2x09) -> doesn't even apologise when she gets called out for it

- "Guess I'm the asshole now?" (2x09) -> she directly insults somebody's work, gets called out for it and still thinks she's done nothing wrong

- "I am sorry, but this place smells like a wet thrift shop." (2x09)

4. Tatum only started paying real attention / reacted positively to Leighton, AFTER Leighton bragged about her being more judgemental than Tatum.

5. Leighton felt the constant need to do something in order to impress Tatum or change her personality and you shouldn't feel that way about a new potential partner. I really didn't like they way Leighton behaved, it was like she's back to S1 Leighton.

- Leighton bought Willow a jacket just so Willow would introduce them, also taking a creepy picture of Tatum

- Leighton was excited about the comedy show, but "changed" her opinion after Tatum judged her for it

- Leighton felt the need to play games in order to "maintain her high-status" (waiting to text back, making herself seem busy)

- Leighton lied multiple times (about non-existent friends, makingup a cool party), she even says: "I lied to impress her.", "I really need to impress somebody."

- Leighton payed the pilates instructor to go easy on her and compliment her

6. They were never supposed to be a long-time thing. From the start they were set up to break up.

- Willow talking about "Twincest" and it being weird

- Willow described Tatum as Leighton's "Doppelbanger"

- Lila joking about mixing up Leighton and Tatum

7. All of this was not my way of saying that Tatum needs to change for Leighton, nobody should. I'm just saying that these two are not right for each other. Leighton did a lot of work on herself and she opened her mind to other people's perspectives, so staying with Tatum would have just set her back.

Leighton even says: "Maybe dating you has made me realize that the things we have in common are the things that I wanna change about myself."

At first this was supposed to be just a short post but the more I rewatched Tatum's scenes, the longer it got.

[chirpsythismorning]

I love it when milkvan accounts have "the superhero and the heart 💜💙" in their bios, like yesss address her by exactly what she doesn't wanna be seen as, and him as how his other love interest standing in the way of milkvan sees him

I can honestly say it's gotten to a point where I feel bad? Like, completely separate from byler obviously, just seeing some of their takes on things, it makes me feel pity almost because their interpretation of what's happening is just so superficial and yet they truly believe it's the most beautiful love story on the planet.

I'm not even the type of byler that hates milkvan tbh. I am a byler that was a milkvan back in the day. Like, I hate to admit this, I hate it so much, but I literally remember rewatching season 2 to prepare for s3's release and I skipped all of s2 practically so I could get to the end to rewatch their reunion! I was that bad!

For those that don't know, s2 was seen as like a big risk from Netflix's perspective, because they were scared that the show would tank since El wasn't with the boys again, specifically Mike, for the entire season. And so I can honestly say, at one point, I contributed to a large sector of fans back then who thought it was the Mike and El show and ended up missing a lot as a result. Though, upon coming across theories post s3 (Mike in front of the closet in Will's room was what opened my eyes officially), I remember rewatching s2 and seeing that shed scene and feeling instantly that it was romantic... And so apparently, all it took was me actually watching it instead of skipping over it to realize....

So that's probably a part of the problem for them still, is that they're watching the milkvan scenes with undivided attention (with rose-tinted goggles), and they're glossing over everything else. Even now, with one season left we still see them downplay Mike and Will's relationship by saying Mike hates Will? And that alone could not make it more obvious that they do not actually watch the show.

Most bylers on the other-hand are capable of watching milkvan scenes, multiple times, like we analyze them to death. And most of us are coming from a good place, genuinely trying to understand these two characters and where they are both coming from. Though, I have yet to see a byler scene be analyzed by milkvans? Like they just don't talk about them beyond downplaying them both romantically and platonically? I'm convinced they've seen every byler scene maybe once bc they were forced to on the first watch but they've avoided their scenes ever since... Not great for their ability to understand the show obviously.

Many of them do in fact view that first meeting in the woods as like them falling in love at first sight. And genuinely, A LOT of people got hooked on Stranger Things in the first place because of Mike and El and them sort of viewing all of their interactions as irrefutably romantic.

And that isn't inherently bad! It's not! But now when you add Will in the mix, you start to see the hypocrisy seep in through the cracks. And it's because by comparison, they view fans merely speculating about Mike's potential feelings for Will as something to be seen as perverted or gross. And so that for me, is when I sort of start to question the groundwork of milkvan.

Because quite frankly, I didn't see any of these people getting angry and defensive about how gross 99% of the audience was for shipping Mike and El in s1-2. As far as I can remember, the show was a hit in large part because it followed this very successful trope of self insert nerdy boy meets girl who is way more 'cool' than him, and people ate that shit up bc we always do. It's what we're used to. It's safe. From what I recall, no one had any problem with Mike trying to kiss El in his basement bathroom after like 3 days of knowing her, during a very traumatic time in their lives and only specifically after Lucas implied Mike was already in love with her and wanted to marry her at this point.

They saw that and said, that's love bitch.

And bylers say this all the time, but it is absolutely true: If the roles were reversed, if El was the best friend of Mike's who went missing and instead Will was a boy they found in the woods while looking for her, fans would have been saying this is obviously a best friends to lovers story between Mike and El!!!.. And that bathroom scene? If that happened between Mike and Will? They would have saw that and said what the fuck kind of sick shit is this.? And maybe it would have been in large part because the circumstances at play, bc it doesn't really matter to me personally when it comes to that situation whether it was a girl and a boy or a boy and a boy, it was an odd choice to make, plain and simple. And that's what I'm trying to say here. That to them, one is true love, and one is disturbing.

Mike's known Will longer. If he is queer (he is), then it's very likely he did have a crush on Will at the time he met El, not necessarily super consciously or anything. But even despite that, I don't think Mike would have felt comfortable with kissing Will in that situation, nor any other boy or girl. They prove this when Mike's makes that comment in s2, chastising Dustin and Lucas for merely being interested in getting to know Max, despite never having spoken a word to her? Like that tells you right there the circumstances and everything at play is what led Mike to try to kiss El in that moment, a moment that was unprecedented and never would have happened in any other scenario.

Even in the case they found Will in the woods instead of El, I don't even think that scene would have happened either? And this is because the whole point of it was for El to ask Mike if she was still pretty despite having a buzz cut (looking like a boy like everyone in the story has been hinting at us that entire season), for Mike to say pretty, really pretty, only for him to look visibly uncomfortable with himself, followed by trying to overcorrect this moment by kissing her.

That scene wouldn't make sense with Mike and Will bc it was happening in the first place because of heteronormativity. And it existing and people thinking it's like peak romance, is in and of itself proving the hypocrisy of an audience that is eventually going to call Will and Mike ending up together, coming out of nowhere and perverted...

Bc you just know if El was Mike's best friend, they never would have had any interest in Will as this boy they found with superpowers. They would have got those scenes of Mike looking everywhere for El and instantly latched onto the boy/girl slow-burn best friends to lovers trope.

The crazy together scene???? If that scene was between Mike and his best friend El, fans would have been rooting for it to end in a kiss... Why do you think the Duffers had that awkward long pause at the end? They were nodding to the fact that this audience is willing to see one thing, but not the other. Even when the thing they're willing to see is overcast by things that should make you a little bit more critical of it in the first place.

Putting Will or any other boy in El's place in that scene in the bathroom or other moments between Mike and El in s1 would have completely removed the romantic lens for most of the audience back then, and it's because... wait for it... HETERONORMATIVITY!

We as a society see a boy and a girl being nice to each other and pressure them to make it official. Hell no a boy and a girl can't just close friends. Either one of them is harboring secret feelings or one of them is gay.

Heteronormativity is literally why most of society latched onto these 2 characters, not necessarily the pieces that made up the whole. And so they have to make up excuses despite the circumstances bc it is so normalized that they don't think twice about it, because they've never had to think twice about it up to this point.

Stories have always catered to them. In fact, the stories we've been exposed to our whole lives has created the expectations we have in the first place.

And so like... I do feel bad but only bc I'm a decent person and don't like to see people hurting genuinely.

No doubt I will feel satisfaction seeing some folks who were hurtful to bylers get a taste of their own medicine, but I genuinely hope that they can eventually learn to accept it and appreciate the story for what the Duffers intend it to be when it's all said and done.

As for the superhero and the heart... again, I feel bad like genuinely, I don't know how to even explain the unnecessary guilt I feel that these strangers who I don't even know are going to be whiplashed tf out of next season...

[itsjustbyler]

How did you get into byler?

When did you realize byler is endgame?

What are your thoughts on the popular theory, flickergate?

And do you think that Max will wake up?

Oh, this is gonna be long... let's go

How do I get into Byler:

Well, i first watch stranger things last year. I tried to watch it twice but couldn't past the first minutes of the first episodes and I have no idea why. One day i was scrolling TikTok and I saw someone really mad saying that the writes should confirm Will's sexuality because it was queerbaiting and all. After that i decided to watch the show to see what was happening. I already knew there was a debacle about Will's sexuality. When watching S1 and S2, i thought mlevens was really cute and while I knew Will was gay, i didn't notice his feeling for Mike. However, there was something off not with Will, but with Mike for me. But I ignored the feeling after mleven reunion in s2. After season 3? No way, i hated Mlven from the beginning. Those awkward make out sessions, the way they were treating their friends specially Will. The rain fight made me hate Mike, ngl. When Will destroyed castle byers i understood that he was in love with Mike. But the aftermath made me confused asf. Mike biking in the rain after him? By the end of season 3, as i already say here, i was really mad with mlven and it was worse after she kissed him and he doesn't reciprocate. Wdym she doesn't even gave him a choice? His face? Something was really wrong but i couldn't put my finger on it. And then we have season 4. Mike doesn't saying ily to El and I was like "ok, this shit again", then Mike treating Will badly. I was mad with Mike and El throughout the whole season and that monologue made me cringe so much. However, i did notice the chemistry with Mike and Will and how their scenes had a double meaning. When I finish watching, i came to reddit of all places to ask if someone thought about it too and damn. I never felt so hated, that was HORRIBLE. People called me names and said I was stupid and I didn't even know why, but then I saw the byler slide there and decided to read it. That bought me to Tumblr and after reading a lot of theories i rewatched the show in English and BAAANG, Byler endgame for sure hahaha.

When did you realized Byler is endgame?

Reading theories and rewatching the show without the heteronormativity glasses LOL

My thoughts on flickergate.

Is it the theory where Mike and Will kissing caused the light to flicker in S1? I like the theory and I think it's cute but I don't think it's going to happen. I think if they are going for it, it's going to be more realistic if Mike tried to warn himself to go after Will. I imagine Mike and Will in the garage and they hear themselves as kids, Will saying "see you tomorrow", and in a attempt to change what happened, Mike just do the thing with the lights... i dunno if it's actually this that the theory refers, it's been a while since I read about it.

Do i think Max is gonna wake up?

I really really want to but I don't know if she will? They focused so much in her letters to them, that they should read only if she dies. The one for billy was actually a focus for an entire episode called "Dear, Billy". I want so bad for her to wake up but I am not so confident that she will...

ty for the ask and sorry for the bad english!!

[bellamysgriffin]

Now I’m curious about your ST thoughts!!!😭 but could you talk about your favorite parts of stranger things/your favorite characters? (If you don’t want to share the unpopular opinions ofc!)

omg of course i have No Fear of discourse, i'm always open to sharing unpopular opinions, i just couldn't be bothered to type up a whole post unprompted lmao but okay

starting with my fav parts of the show:

i will forever say s1 is the best season of the show and it really doesn't matter how good s5 is, because it won't top s1. from the bottom of my heart i think stranger things would have been a kickass miniseries and probably should have stopped after season 1 because i think it went from a good show to a fun show after that

that said there are always things i love from each season. in s2 i really adored hopper and el's story, in s3 i loved robin's inclusion, and in s4 i thought the max stuff was really great

i am also unashamedly a stancy truther and i literally dont care what y'all say i'm correct and it would actually make PERFECT sense for them to get back together now

hopper is forever my fav character and i think david harbour's performance in this show is truly incredible

then if we want to go to my um... controversial opinions. i'll just let them rip

i think all the kid actors except for sadie sink have gotten noticeably worse. although i would say gaten matarazzo is pretty much the same, and i want to say finn wolfhard hasn't gotten worse but maybe that's because he was so great in the it movies. in this, there's really no way to tell bc they don't give him anything to do lmao

i don't have any real investment in the mike/will/el love triangle but i will say if you rewatch the first season, it's pretty clear that mike really loved el and i think it's just because they feel so lackluster right now that people are convinced they won't end up together but like. i personally would not be getting my hopes up lmao

i also think fanon perception of the show has truly gotten so divorced from reality it's literally crazy. i can expand upon this but i don't want to piss people off THAT much lmao

i think stranger things has a huge problem with consistent characterization and there's always one character you see that with most pronounced from season to season. in s2 it was joyce who straightened her hair and put on eyeshadow and became an entirely different kind of parent because of that i guess. s3 it was hopper who became an oafish comedic device. and in s4 i hate to say it and you guys will be mad, but robin. that is a different fucking character than season 3!!! in s3 she was like. the cool girl/savvy loner, kind of snarky, relatively sarcastic and like ridiculously smart. in s4 she's just like gangly and awkward and talks a mild a minute and claims to have no understanding of social cues. what???? i mean, i like the nerdy lesbian as much as the cool lesbian but that's just blatantly not what she was and i think it's really disappointing that they took this character that was aloof and witty and very socially savvy and made her a nerd because that's how writing lesbians made more sense in their brain i guess i don't know

and for the real kicker..... i think eleven should have died in s4. i'm actually so fucking bored that she didn't. and that's not because i hate her character but because she has effectively turned into a deus ex machina and i am tired of every season ending with millie bobby brown sticking her hand out and screaming until the monster dies. i was SO BORED during the last half of that battle. and look, they had their chance to get rid of that deus ex machina without killing her when they took her powers away, but they obviously didn't know how to write without that convenient plot device in their back pocket so they immediately gave her powers back to her. stupid! killing 11 would have genuinely been the most interesting thing to do going into s5 because then our main cast would be confronted with how to stop the monster without their resident superhero, and that's a difficult thing to write which is obviously why the stranger things writers didn't want to do it lmao. so yea. i'm team kill eleven before the finale so i don't have to sit through another hour of telekinetic lazy writing

[feuqueerfire]

2023 Series Overview + Stats

2022 OVERVIEW (SHOWS, SHIPS) + STATS

It's the end of January 2024 but I realized I didn't end up doing a 2023 Series Overview and Summary, so I thought I'd do one now. Unlike the 2022 series overview where I was more prepared, had watched a lot more, and had even rewatched the favourites and almost-favourites of the year, I'm very unprepared this time.

So, it's gonna be shows & movies I watched in 2023 and my ratings for them until today (240128) without really having rewatched anything (except Beyond Evil).

I wonder if I'll rewatch some of these at the end of 2024 (along with the 2024 rewatches) and whether that'll change the rankings or my feelings at all.

I think I've decided that these yearly overviews will not change/be edited regardless of whether I come to really like a show afterward or change the ratings or whatever - a snapshot in time.

Favourite Shows

The shows released before 2023 will have (release year) beside them.

Top 3 Shows Watched in 2023:

Beyond Evil

My School President

Strangers From Hell (2019)

Beyond Evil: The only show that I watched in 2023 that I have since properly rewatched (I literally watched all 16 episodes this January 2024 without really skimming or speeding it up despite having watched the whole thing already. The characters, especially the mains Juwon and Dongshik gave me so many brainworms, the acting was great, the relationships among the characters was great, the mystery and suspense succeeded for me. Great show all around, actually it's making me wonder why it's a 8/10 and not at a 8.5.

My School President: This was so fun and introduced me to Gemini and Fourth, which was another delight. The OST and singing aspect of this was so good, for which I am eternally thankful. I think I liked the first half of the show better than the second half, which I thought for long-winded; otherwise, it might've also earned an 8 from me. Haven't rewatched the show properly but have watched some reactions to the earlier episodes and also listened to people's podcast episodes, as expected.

Strangers From Hell (2019): Out of these 3, this is the one I've thought the least about since watching and also haven't rewatched, so I remember the least about. So who knows, maybe I'll rewatch and be bored or something but it was so good while I watched it, the vibes so unsettling and strange and weird. Great acting, great story, should rewatch. It's also the first non-BL kdrama that I watched in a long time and was the reason I started watching more of them again, especially the thrillers/mysteries with no romance but homoerotic undertones lol

Next 4 - Liked A Lot:

Not quite the top 3 but I thoroughly enjoyed these. Unordered because they're all 7/10.

Moonlight Chicken

Derry Girls S1 (2018)

Alice in Borderland S1 (2020)

The Devil Judge (2021)

Only 1 BL, one non-BL with homoerotic undertones, 1 English-speaking comedy, and a death game thriller. Also from different countries: Thailand, Ireland, Japan, South Korea.

Ranges from fun/funny, thrilling, exciting, and heartfelt. They definitely all made an impression on me and have good acting/production value/story/etc, but maybe a thing or two disappointed me, or I just haven't connected with it enough to think about it too often. Still overall good shows that I liked a lot.

These were generally good, but just something was missing - either there was a production/story/acting issue that was bothering me a lot, or the production was very good, but it failed to take up any brain space after I finished watching. 6.5/10 in my rating.

Never Let Me Go

Midnight Motel

Choco Milk Shake (2022)

Happiness (2021)

Derry Girls S2 (2019)

Derry Girls S3 (2022)

A Shoulder To Cry On

So Long, See You Tomorrow (2021)

The Merciless (2017)

Bed Friend

Alice in Borderland S2 (2022)

Bloodhounds

The Eighth Sense

Enigma

Stay With Me

Our Dating Sim

High enjoyment or fondness, lacked in either production/acting/writing: Never Let Me Go, A Shoulder To Cry On (except the last ep rip), Stay With Me (it actually didn't lack in production and stuff either and is better than medium levels),

High production/acting, but lacked in making me care or be as invested as I should’ve been: Happiness, Alice in Borderland S2, Bloodhounds (okay idk where to put this because first 6 eps were so good - ep 6 itself is fucking wild but the ending sucked rip), The Eighth Sense, Our Dating Sim

These had medium levels of both production and fondness but not enough to think about often or be great: Midnight Motel, Choco Milk Shake, Derry Girls S2/S3, So Long, See You Tomorrow (can't remember a single thing about this but I must've liked it from my review of it lol), The Merciless, Bed Friend, Enigma,

I think these should be lower actually maybe, like a 6/10 not 6.5 but I haven't rewatched them and don't remember a lot, so who knows: The Merciless, Bloodhounds, Midnight Motel, Choco Milk Shake, Bed Friend

Could Climb Higher - could be bumped up to a 7/10 if I love it upon rewatch and end up thinking about the characters more: Stay With Me, Eigth Sense, Our Dating Sim

Special Mentions: The rest of the shows I watched were rated lower than 6.5/10, though there were still a few that I have some fondness for because I like the concept/the acting pair/it just gave me something I wanted. This includes Island (literally only Cha Eunwoo's cool young priest character), Our Skyy 2 (some eps), I Go To School Not By Bus (2015) (idk that specific running away to bathroom scene and making out is so good), We Are Gamily (2017), ummmm I skimmed through eps 10-15 of Addicted Heroin (2016) (didn't watch anything before that) but there are certain very specific parts that I liked and get why it gave everybody brainworms.

Favourite Pairs (characters):

Lee Dongshik/Han Juwon (Beyond Evil): They are not a real couple in the show and yet... have read so much fic about them and in my head, they are indeed in love after all this mess. I don't have much to say, I just love their antagonistic relationship turning into something so tender (though still jagged) and it turning into something more after the ending

Tinn/Gun (My School President): cuties, my cuties. Adorable.

Don't have a third one, I don't think? so strange

Special Mentions: 

Palm and Nueng (Never Let Me Go)

Heart and Li Ming (Moonlight Chicken)

in my head, Ajin and Fa (Enigma) -not canon

Favourite Pairs (actors):

Fourth and Gemini, I think they're the only pair that I became interested in 2023 and like followed fanaccounts and stuff. I'm so looking forward to them in future projects (My Love Mix-Up was at Q10 very recently, I'm waitingggg). Incredibly talented young people, both in terms of acting but also the performances they did at the concert like oh nice

Favourite Side Pairs

Can't remember a single one except Heart and Li Ming (Moonlight Chicken)

Biggest Disappointments

To be a disappointment, I had to have at least semi-high hopes

Be My Favorite: This one was a real disappointment because I've been looking forward to it for so long. In fact, I'd been looking forward to it since I saw the original trailer with Mike and people were still insisting they wouldn't watch it and were booing Krist because I thought the synopsis was intriguing and liked the chemistry of the ship. I was so happy when everybody seemed to love the show and it's such a shame that in the end, I'm the one who ended up bored and feeling nothing for this show...

Happiness: Not a super big disappointment because it was still a good show and it wasn't super hyped but I thought I'd like it more because I've only heard good things about it. Also thought I'd like it more when I first started because I liked the beginning few eps quite a bit before it fell into a lull in the middle.

General Stats

Total Watched: 44 entries in my spreadsheet, less than half of the 104 completed in 2022 - makes sense because I watched very little in the latter 6 months of 2023. Without the following below, 39 newly completed series/movies/shorts in 2023.

1 DNF (The New Employee)

2 Rewatches (Midnight 2021, Kiss Me Again Pete/Kao cut)

1 Survival Show (Boys Planet)

1 extreme skimming (Addicted Heroin 2016)

Release date 2023 vs earlier: 23 vs 21

Almost half and half, interestingly. My to-watch list now has fewer BL/GL from earlier than 2023 but more het/non-romance kdramas from earlier since I've watched a lot of the earlier BLs that I'm interested in but have barely dipped into kdramas.

Queer vs non-queer: 23 vs 20

The non-queer shows may still have some queerness (Claire is a lesbian in Derry Girls, trans girl in Alice in Borderland, etc.) but it's not the main character or the main plot and not a significant enough side plot

lol didn't count Boys Planet in this but it feels queer fr

Also 50-50 surprisingly. Some non-queer shows like Derry Girls, Alice in Borderland, and Island have 2-3 seasons, so that bulks it up just a bit

BL vs GL in Queer shows: 21.5 vs 1.5

0.5 to each for We Are Gamily

rip my fawking GLs for reallll but hopefully I'll have a more fruitful lesbian-watching year because there are like 5 that I have on MDL that seem promising (and have also watched Bottoms this January)

Romance-Centric vs Non-Romantic in Non-Queer Shows: 3 vs 17

in the Non-Romantic shows, this many shows have very homoerotic undertones (regardless of whether I ship): ~6 (Bloodhounds, Midnight Museum, Beyond Evil, Devil Judge, Strangers From Hell, The Merciless)

Some of these also had het undertones/side couples: 5 (Tomorrow, Island S1/S2, Enigma, Midnight Motel)

Number of shows per month: 6, 4, 10, 4, 5, 7, 7 (July to November), 0

Please this funny spread, I really just fell off on watching shows in the last half of the month because I was preoccupied with ZB1

Didn't count Boys Planet (August)

Average rating: 6.3 (higher than last year, so that's nice)

[me-uglypretty]

That cheating thing really opened the whole truth, kinda, like I don't think we really knew him as much (even after the flashbacks cause the cheating part changed the whole thing)?// this is a really good point buy may i add that i don't know if this is matt all along (like, we truly didn't know much about him) or it was an inconsistency coming from the writers because matt from s1 to the matt in s2 was like a stranger. I understand in s1 we saw him mostly through leigh's eyes... and she loved him and wanted him to get better and in s2 you get to see more of his past, his depression, his trauma and you see him through danny's eyes and he doesn't idolize matt as much... but the nina thing... i don't know. It felt really weird because nothing indicated that matt could be with someone else. I get that's the point and it shows that cheating is something that you don't know until it's in front of your eyes but it was so random?.

And the danny point.. i had my issues with danny as well (like every other character) but i appreciate how he was open at times with leigh, even when she wanted to close her eyes. I think their dynamic felt a little bit more genuine bc danny was brutally honest and deep down i think leigh appreciated that... i still didn't ship them or think they would be a good match but in a way danny+leigh made a little bit more sense than matt and her? idk if i explained myself properly and i apologize for the long rant here

Okay, you're right on that! It was kinda like out of nowhere??

I'm guessing that we've meant to think we know and understand him in S1/how Leigh kinda idolised her husband and loved him to the point, life is nothing to her without him. But S2 kinda showed how we really don't know anyone, we can only have an idea of someone and pieces of them carried by someone else.

Wasn't there some bits of their relationship having issues nearing the end? (I'm not sure I remember cause I haven't done my rewatch yet for this year). BUT WHAT IF, that wasn't the whole story? Perhaps, he haven't really did much but talk with Nina? S3 could had been the way they open the story up more, who knows.

You're on point with that about Danny. I think they're both kinda similar?? In the out going way? While Matt is so different from them both. Plus, Danny was truly falling for her. I kinda of prefer him more compared to Matt (but the whole punching in the wall stuff ahh sirrr). But Leigh was really using him so like my girl wtf.

AND I find it hard to know what's truly TRUE compared to what they're saying sometimes. Example, the episode of Amy where the story she told them were so different from what actually happened??

This is making me think so much, I am questioning what I've actually watched. I love that.

[jagzii]

✨rewatching just to witness his character growth all over again✨

[wibble-wobbegong]

rewatching stranger things is so fun cause if you asked me if a character was gay? I’d say will, because they constantly call him slurs and he just generally falls into the quiet and artsy category of queer.

but like?? the implication that HE was the one in love doesn’t really pop up till season 3. i don’t doubt that it was planned or even that they had been hinting at it(calling out for mike, trusting him only with stuff, etc) but it could be best friend behavior(we now know it was not)

side by side with mike. will doesn’t come off nearly as in love as mike does until like season 3/4 if you aren’t reading into the subtext. we don’t see much of will in s1 and in s2 he’s sharing secrets with mike and depending on him when he’s scared but that’s totally something normal best friends do!!! like genuinely

how the fuck am i supposed to pretend that mike forcing his friends to help search in the cold dark rain and claiming that nobody else cares about will (only him!!), hosting someone he thought might be clinically insane because she can help find will (all she did was point at him), breaking down when it was thought will died and then spending hours looking at the collection of will’s art he gathered over the years, being the one who pushed troy down even though troy had called will those names a million times and mike knew will wasn’t dead, LITERALLY almost killing himself at the cliff where will supposedly died over Dustin’s TEETH (he’s able to figure out will is in another dimension but can’t figure out how to get them out of that situation without him dying? bro), AND THEN HE CANT FUCKING SLEEP IN THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE HE NEEDS TO SEE HIM THE SECOND HE CAN TO BE ABLE TO HEAR HIS HEARTBEAT HIMSELF, ISNT LOVE??

NONE OF THAT IS HETEROSEXUAL BEHAVIOR

AND THATS JUST SEASON 1.

[scoopertrouper]

suuuuuuper random thoughts:

1. I just did a mini stancy drive-by in advance of possibly fully revisiting the first two seasons of stranger things (sue me i am an s3 apologist and have rewatched it A LOT. i’m just a sucker for ✨vibes✨.). the thing that struck me is just how UNFINISHED steve and nancy’s relationship is?

like truthfully nancy doesn’t seem to get much agency at all in the breakup, and i don’t know if that’s by design or bc the duffers just, like, didn’t think about it or know what to have her say. 😑 so, that’s one thing.

(i’m also having some inch resting thoughts abt nancy and her habit of more passively waiting for things to happen TO her in her romantic relationships, vs her approach to literally everything else in life. but they’re too complex and ill-formed to tease out atp.)

2. the other thing is that i think it’s kind of rich for anyone to say that the only reason nancy gave steve the time of day in s4 is because she and jonathan were apart, when 1) j*ncy made a conscious CHOICE to preserve and extend that separation and 2) the reverse is semi-true for s3 as well?

like obviously a little different because at least she and steve were still in the same town, but their storylines were largely kept in separate geographic silos until the battle chaos at the end so IMOP we have no idea how nancy would have reacted to being around steve and jonathan at the same time under less violent circumstances.

bc it’s not like when they WERE left alone j*ncy were giving portrait of a happy couple vibes all season. jonathan spent most of it in a perpetual state of agitation ranging from exasperated to downright pissed off with her, while he in turn seemed to register to her primarily as another cog in her investigation (a cog she kissed a few times to show “see, together!!”). the chem and the give and take were NOT there, and as someone who really was rooting for them in s1 and s2, that was wildly disappointing to me.

so in sum, i have no idea where they’re going with this. even tho i know what i personally am hoping for and what my gut is telling me is happening (bc the duffers are a lot of things but masters of romantic subtlety? nah.), i’ve spent a long time trying to unlearn the lessons embedded in my psyche by teen years spent behind bars in the joss whedon school of romantic sadomasochism. ☠️

thank you for coming to my TED talk.

(p.s. a third thought - while the long-ass wait between seasons means that, for a viewer, it feels like nancy and steve have been broken up forever and jon and nancy have been together since the stone age, in show real time it’s really only been like two years give or take? that is a laughably short period of time, especially for teenagers who are already experiencing intense periods of self-discovery compounded by the fact that they moonlight as guerrilla soldiers in a war against the supernatural. so this back-and-forth is not out of pocket.)